Ultrasound: The Baby Gender Predictor

Are you pregnant? Thinking about getting an ultrasound? You may have some questions about what ultrasounds are all about. One of the things that seems to be on every mom’s mind is whether you are going to have a girl or boy. The ultrasound is known as the baby gender predictor. You might wonder how the ultrasound identifies the sex of your baby and how accurate it is. Also, how soon can you know. Then this article is for you.

No doubt this is an exciting time especially if it is your first pregnancy. And, you are full of questions like and I really pregnant, is my baby normal (healthy), am I going to have twins and will it be a boy or girl or perhaps both. The baby gender predictor (ultrasound machine) is a miracle of its own so we’ll take a look at what it can tell us and what it can’t.

Can an Ultrasound Predict Boy or Girl? Fact or Fiction

The baby gender predictor or Ultrasound refers to sound waves that are above the hearing range of humans. This is considered to be around 20 kHz (kilohertz). For diagnostic purposes the range of sound waves runs from 2 to 18 kHz. Basically sound waves are transmitted through the mother’s stomach and then passed back to a transducer and then the signal is analyzed by the machine and then displayed on a screen in real-time. So, you’re seeing sounds waves that have been converted to a visual output. The image is not great but good enough to make certain predictions. The ultrasound professional knows where to look for sex identification and based on the shape that is seen can determine the gender of your fetus. What can be seen? Well, if it is a female there should appear three parallel lines between the legs. This represents the labia (the outer lips of the genitalia). Now, for the boy one should see a dome like shape that corresponds to the testes and a finger like projection that represents the penis. It’s really that simple. Once pointed out to you, you can’t miss it.

How Early in My Pregnancy will I be Able to Tell if it’s a Boy or Girl?

Generally, you must be in your fourth month to be able to see the distinguishing features. It has been reported that sex determination can be done at 11 weeks but the certainty level is not high. Sometimes a number of scans have to be done before gender can be assessed. Some ultrasound recordings are better than others. By the way, not all doctors are willing to do a gender scan so you need to talk with your doctor first to see what he/she will do for you.

Is an Ultrasound Accurate?

Is the baby gender predictor accurate? Well, that depends. Ultimately it depends on the quality of the image (the quality of the machine and how well it is calibrated) and if the fetus is in the right position to observe genitalia. Of course, it depends on how far along you are in your pregnancy. It’s possible to see something in a little as 3 months however, at 2 months nothing is developed well enough to see anything. Again, it depends on the position of the fetus at the time the ultrasound is taken. Moreover, the amount of amniotic fluid present will alter the quality of the image. In other words, the more fluid present the better the image. There is less fluid around during early pregnancy so this generally generates a poorer image. Another factor that affects quality of the image is thickness of the stomach wall. This will vary depending on how much muscle and/or fat you have. And, of course, as your pregnancy progresses more fat will accumulate around the tummy region. The more fat the poorer the image. The only other major problem for the baby gender predictor is where the umbilical cord is. It is not unusual to be positioned between the legs obscuring view of the genitalia.